Category: family

Corrie Mae Stanley was born Friday, September 24 at 6:21 am in Marietta, Georgia. Kinsey, Jordan, Owen, and Keightley are doing great… as are Susu and Opa. There is nothing like a new baby to remind us of our great God and all that is important.

Another bit of good news is that the chemotherapy I’ve been assigned by my doctors is proving effective. I have completed two rounds, and the blood counts which measure the cancer have shrunk to normal levels. As in the past, the plan is to stay with what is working as long as I can. Low blood and platelet counts are still a challenge; I receive infusions a couple of times a week. Susan and I appreciate your prayers.

Paul told the Christians at Corinth that as we think deeply about God’s glory, we are changed into the image of the Son. In our busy lives, it is important to take the time to contemplate His magnificence. God, who is rich in mercy, sent His only Son to seek and save the lost, and we are rescued by His amazing grace.

May we be able to clearly see the Lord as He is… and respond with worship and thanksgiving . God’s Word reveals His majesty, as does the universe, the earth, and the tiny fingers of a newborn baby.

‘Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.’ (Doxology by Thomas Ken)

‘But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.’
II Corinthians 3:16-18

Kinsey and Jordan took their kids to Disney World recently and had a great time. Four-year-old Owen will probably remember more, but it seemed two-year-old Keightley was the one most excited about going. “We going to Disney World… and see Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Minnie Mouse…” was her constant statement of anticipation.

On the second day, when they first saw Donald Duck, Keightley yelled, “Hey Donald Duck! We come to Disney World to see you guys!!” Later in the week Kinsey sent a video of the family eating dinner with Mickey Mouse visiting a table nearby. With a surprisingly loud voice, our little granddaughter shouted, “Look at me! Look at me!” The expression on her face as Mickey walked to the Stanley table was priceless.

So what can we learn from the little ones who exhibit such wonder? “Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…” (Philippians 3:20) “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him…” (I Peter 1:8) Does my anticipation to meet the One who died for me approach the excitement of a two-year-old seeking an imaginary character?

Keith Green sang: “O Lord, please light the fire that once burnt bright and clear. Replace the lamp of my first love that burns with holy fear…” If my longing is absent, if my passions are elsewhere, if pleasures or wealth or worries or trappings of the world have crowded out the Lord, I must run to Him. He is merciful and quick to restore… but I must let Him occupy the throne of my heart — His rightful place.

The second thing I admired in Keightley was her shameless audacity to call out to the one she came to see. “Look at me! Look at me!” The little girl intended to cry out until she was acknowledged. The Father wants us to be just as bold.

“’Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” The mature, the civilized, the whole… the religious… don’t act this way. Surely the Master needs to be protected from such embarrassing scenes.

Except… that is why He came. Mickey Mouse was in the restaurant to bring joy to little boys and girls. Jesus Christ came to earth to heal the sick, to give sight to the blind, to set the captives free, and to seek and save the lost. The person who ‘sees’ Jesus for who He is and seeks after Him with reckless abandon brings much joy to the Father’s heart.

“Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to Him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ ‘Lord, I want to see.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.” (Luke 18:39-43)

The Lord wants His children to long for His coming. Jesus wants us to seek Him with all our hearts. At the close of the parable of the persistent widow, teaching His disciples to pray and not give up, Jesus asked: “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (see Luke 18:1-8) Let’s be childlike.

“Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17

The child of God cannot wait until official holidays to thank our Father in heaven for His incredible blessings of love and mercy. We recently celebrated Keightley’s second birthday. She is so sweet and unique. Everyone calls me Opa as a Grandpa, but a month ago Keightley started calling me Opie. I told Kinsey her daughter has permission to call me anything she’d like.

Taylor’s volleyball team ended up with the state runner-up trophy this year after an incredible season. Saturday, as I watched his girls battle a strong Holy Innocents’ team, I could not help but remember a thought I had last year as Hebron won the state championship: “Wouldn’t it be great if Taylor’s youngest sister Karlyn could have the opportunity to coach while teaching school?” I shared this thought with others and it became a matter of prayer.

As you know, Karlyn was hired at GAC to fill a late opening at the very end of the summer. She loves her students and is doing a great job. After school started she was asked to help with the JV volleyball team. Now, I’ve been asked to coach a sixth and seventh grade girls’ basketball team and the varsity coach asked Karlyn to be her dad’s assistant. What a joy! (If you want to see some excellent basketball, I can probably arrange some tickets…)

This past weekend Dave and Cindy Bintz visited our home. Dave was a coach and athletic director in Florida for 37 years before God called him and Cindy to the mission field. Susan and I visited them in the Catalunya region of Northern Spain in the summer of 2019. Camp L’Arcada (which means ‘The Archway’) was established in 1991 and the Bintzes have run the athletic section of the Christian camp for the past six years.

Less than 1% of the citizens of Spain know Jesus as Savior and Lord. Familiar with the tragic episodes of abuse in their nation’s history, generations have rejected or simply ignored all religion. Young people love sports in Spain and Christians from Europe and America have used athletics as an avenue to present the gospel. Only after trust is built and relationships are established does there seem to be a chance to effectively share the life-giving message of Jesus Christ. There are 25 Christian camps throughout Spain and it is estimated that 80% of all who come to Christ in the whole country find Jesus in these settings.

Susan and I witnessed the beautiful way Dave and Cindy serve God. Though living in a culture very different from ours, they love people and pray for all to come to know the Father who created them and gave His only Son for them. The Bintzes work hard, believing the gospel has the power to overcome all the strategies of Satan, whose aim is to keep everyone in darkness.

The apostle Paul had this same hope. Once he saw the light and surrendered his life to the King, he wanted all people everywhere to understand and experience a righteousness that could never be gained by human effort. Everyone, Jew and Gentile, has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but through Jesus a way has been made for any person to be saved. Paul declared the power is the gospel. He, as have multitudes in the centuries to follow, shamelessly made every effort to proclaim the ‘good news’ to the world. Let’s give thanks for the gospel.

“Now brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve.” I Corinthians 15:1-5

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God to bring salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” Romans 1:16-17

The two oldest sons of Rex and Barbara Davis were born in Houston, Texas. We moved to Chattanooga when I was four years old where my sister and youngest brother were born. I’ve always felt connected to Texas, and my dad tells me the family roots go back over a century.

This is a black-and-white picture of my great-grandmother, Viola Gray. Living on a farm in Arkansas, her husband left her so Viola accepted a relative’s invitation to join a homesteading effort in West Texas. Pregnant, she traveled in a horse-drawn wagon with her only child, six-year-old Gracie. In Denton, Texas she paused to have baby Nola, my grandmother, on April 30, 1900. Gracie was born in 1894 and Viola was born in the early 1870’s, as the Comanches and settlers were fighting in the wild West.

Gracie lived in three different centuries, dying in the year 2000 at the age of 106. She was a witty, vibrant woman and I have fond memories of visits to her home in Arkansas. Nola died in 2003 at the age of 103. We took great family trips to my grandparents’ home in Rockford, Illinois when we were growing up. Once Susan and I took Taylor, Kinsey, and Karlyn to visit their great-grandmother. As Grandma told of life in West Texas on the Pecos River, it made me wonder how the two oldest daughters of Viola lived a decade, much less a century.

There were places on the Pecos River where patches of quicksand earned it the nickname, ‘graveyard of cattlemen’s hopes.’ My grandmother and her older sister recalled jumping from skeleton to skeleton of unfortunate cows and horses across the quicksand to get from one side of the narrow river to the other. I’m not sure they had permission from Viola to do this, but they thought it was fun.

Each of us probably have stories of ‘narrow escapes’ in our past. Most definitely, there are stories from each of our family histories where one misstep or one different turn would have canceled our existence. If young Nola had slipped and drowned in the Pecos River, my dad would never have been born… and I would not be writing this.

Luck… happenstance… coincidence… fate… destiny… different words are used for the mysterious turns of life, but God understands perfectly: “Before you were born, I knew you and had a plan for your life. Don’t spend a lot of time trying to figure out what you can’t understand… just know you’re not an accident. The devil tried to destroy My Son shortly after He was born, but I prevented it. Because He lives, you live and I want you to find your entire identity, purpose, and joy in Him. You are loved more than you can imagine.”

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God. And that is what we are!” John 3:1

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” Jeremiah 1:5

“The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her Child the moment He was born. She gave birth to a Son, a male Child, who ‘will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.’ And her Child was snatched up to God and to His throne. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God…” Revelation 12:4-6

This is our final week of school so this will be the last writing for a while. As you know, graduations have taken a new path this year because of our social distancing constraints. One way or another, I hope you can celebrate with graduates you know in the completion of a section of education. Congratulations to all!

Wilkes’ birthday is two days after my dad’s March birthday, and Macy’s big day is two days after my mom’s birthday in May. We recently visited my parents for an early celebration of my mom turning 86. The next weekend we enjoyed a Minnie Mouse Tea Party on Macy’s third birthday. What a blessing!

We are so thankful for our family and friends. We also thank God for the health He has given me this past school year. The steroid regimen I received to boost platelet and red blood cell production in my bone marrow was ineffective in March, so it looks like we may now try a different drug which will be administered once-weekly four times at Emory. We know God is in control… and we cherish your prayers.

Our team of sixteen had to cancel a May trip to Ecuador, a nation hit particularly hard with the virus. Please pray for brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world who have suffered in many different ways because of the pandemic. Susan and I were also planning to visit friends in a couple of other countries this summer, but it looks like we’ll have to wait a while.

I love Jesus’ words: “Fear not, little flock.” What an honor to be in the ‘little flock,’ knowing our Good Shepherd is the perfect Leader. He is with us! This is why we need not fear. Let’s constantly depend on God’s grace and the Spirit’s reminders to keep our eyes, hearts, and minds fixed on the One who holds all things together.

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers, or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:15-17

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:1-2

“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus the Pioneer and Perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3